Teston - Henri II

Henri II had been dead since July 1559 — killed by a jousting lance splinter at his own tournament — yet coins bearing his name continued to be struck under the regency arrangements that followed. This teston falls within the transitional period when the royal mints were still working through authorised dies and bullion contracts signed under the previous reign, a bureaucratic inertia that was entirely normal for the French monetary administration of the period.

Dy 1050 encompasses several mint marks across this issue, so the specific striking facility matters considerably for a precise attribution.